I don't tend to be that hypocondriacal, but one thing that I do is whenever I read something about a disease, I immediately get the symptoms. Or when I read about a part of my insides, it starts to hurt "Argh! My brain!"

Do you think you're sick when you're not?

-- Kymm Zuckert (hedgehog@hedgehog.net), August 28, 2000

Answers

Yes, if I have a headache, it's a brain tumor. If I read about the adult version off ADD, I have those symptoms!

A little too empathetic, me.

Does anyone else get this; when I read about painful events, someone physically getting hurt, or someone tells me the story of how the Dr left the knot inside them after their episiotomy (actually, they just have to say the *word* episiotomy..) and my knees ache in sympathy.

I can't predict the weather for shit, but my knees will ache with your pain....

-- Amanda Page (amanda@amandasprecipice.com), August 28, 2000.

Botulism. I dread botulism. If I eat something that has been sitting out at room temperature for a dubious amount of time, I get a dry mouth and have trouble swallowing, and then sit around waiting for the paralysis to kick in(although it never does).

Also (I don't know whether this counts as hypochondria or not) I am afraid of being bitten by a brown recluse spider and having my skin rot off.

Cheers,

-- Catriona (catri696@purpleturtle.com), August 29, 2000.

It's called Med Students' Syndrome. There's actually a little warning in my psychology text against diagnosing yourself or anyone you know based on the book's descriptions of various disorders. Not that this stopped me.

I tend to go the opposite way when it comes to medical problems in that no matter what seems to be wrong with me, I assume that it's all in my head and that it will go away if I deny it long enough. Several years ago I had a focussed, acute pain and went to several different specialists and had several different invasive procedures performed in attempts to discover the source of it, and none was ever found. Diagnosis: neuralgia. Neuralgia seems to be code for any pain that makes doctors say "What the fuck?"

Now when I develop health concerns I don't bother making any appointments because I figure they'll just perform more painful, invasive procedures without ever getting to the bottom of it. I was talking to my aunt Alice recently -- she called in the early afternoon and was surprised to find me home until I told her that I had a horrible headache and didn't go in to work. She asked if that happened often, and I told her that once or twice a month I would get these debilitating headaches, always centered in my right temple (god, I'm getting to be old, nattering on the phone with my relatives about my health). Alice was like, "Uh, and you haven't talked to your doctor about this? Aren't you worried it might be something serious?"

"Like a brain tumor?" I asked. The thought had never really crossed my mind. I assumed that, like last time, it was just a case of my nerves misfiring and I had no desire to undergo exploratory open-brain surgery and have my head shaved in order to simply have the experts shrug their white-coated shoulders.

[And of course, in writing this I feel the faintest tingle emanating from my right temple...]

-- Kim Rollins (kimrollins@yahoo.com), August 29, 2000.

"Neuralgia seems to be code for any pain that makes doctors say "What the fuck?" "

Actually, the word is derived from two Greek roots meaning "nerve pain."

"Oh, thank you, Doctor... and God bless you!"

-- john burke (john.burke@mindspring.com), August 30, 2000.

If u need attention that bad, go get laid. You are admitting u have a problem, and u know that it is not a disease, its all in ur head. so go get some Pysch help! Chris

-- Christina lee mursts (deeve23@aol.com), March 17, 2001.

I cant believe it!!! Someone else out there is just like me. I am sitting here typing this with a pain in the back of my head, and guess what? I am convinced it is a tumor or something serious that will not be found until it is too late. I have a fear of disease and even though I function, I am constantly in fear, that today will be the big terrible day that I just conk out. It actually is quite comical, my head just hurts too bad to laugh at the moment.

-- (whinyhead@aol.com), October 14, 2001.

Okay, I am like all the others. Especially with the headaches. I'll swear it is a brain tumor. I made my parents take me for a cat scan, but everything was okay. Now i wonder if it has developed in the short time that it has been since the cat scan. I almost want something not so seriouse to happen, to kinda set me at ease. I'm just waiting, until something is found, and it is too late. I worry everyday about a disease, weather it is breast cancer, a tumor, or something else. Anytime someone else talks about it, it also worries me, and I swear i have it. My parents tell me I'm a hypochondriac, and I know it, but I can't stop thinking that way. Also, I think it ties in with O.C.D. (obsessive compulsive disorder) I know I have it. If i don't do something a certain way, I think something bad will happen to me or my family. Anyway, if anyone feels this way, e- mail me. I'll be glad to know I'm not the only one.

-- Jen (slayer2121@yahoo.com), January 13, 2002.

From one hypochondriac to another, it's probably not a headache but stress.....go to a chiropractor. Believe me.......a brain tumor comes on out of nowhere. My grandmother has one and she's dying....she and her family never thought brain tumor. We thought old age and alzheimer's. Your doctor could definitely tell you though. But be truthful....tell them you worry about this.....maybe your worry is causing the pain.

-- Trish (six1one@aol.com), February 18, 2002.

I guess I am also one of the hypochondriacs out in the world..at the present time I have been having tension type headaches..and my doctor saw me and told me that she thinks that it is a tension headache..but I can't get it out of my head that it is a tumor and I keep reading things about tumors and I start to get the symptoms..for example I always wake up in the early morning hours thinking I have a headache..even though I don't...I really don't know what to do about it...I wonder if getting an MRI or Catscan done will help me...does anyone have any adivce? Or similar symptoms so I know I am not the only one..i get this pressure in the back of my head kinda near the base and a little above that..and it spreads to the top of my head and temples if i don't relax...also it sometimes gets worse after I have walked quickly somewhere ...sometimes its there during the day and sometimes not so much..and its happened every day for the past 2 weeks..it hasnt really gotten worse..but i get panic attacts along with it..some one please help me..i dont know what else to do...

-- Poornima (Angel15Asp@aol.com), April 08, 2002.

I am exactly the same. For the past 2 weeks I have had a pressured headache on the bridge of my nose. It feels like my heads going to explode I have convencied myself I am fatally ill. I also have lots of tiny lumps on my neck which my doctor has told me twice are just swollen glands. However I have conviencded myself I have cancer. To me the lumps are big to everyone else they are tiny. I can't stop checking them. I don't know what to do, Im driving my fiance mad

-- Le-Anne Duckworth (lduckworth@blg.co.uk), May 13, 2002.

I dont know why but about 2 months ago i started to worry about getting cancer. I knew that i didnt have it and that i wasnt going to get it, but the worry was still there. I would sit in my room and check my armpits and making sure i never had any lumps anywhere. I would ask to leave the classroom just so i could go check and make sure nothing new had appeared. But I knew that I wont ever get it and i had to change my mind set. I wouldnt let those thoughts of worry to enter my mind. I still have to fight off the worry, but I make myself have a positive attitude. I dont want to create something with worry.

-- Trista Hamilton (livingfree7@hotmail.com), May 13, 2002.

I know what you mean. I lose sleep at night because i think my lungs are going to fill with fluid and i am going to wake up struggling to breath..haha...sounds funny but true. I weezed about a month ago so i instantly quit smoking and ever since then i'm convinced i've got emphesema.....a 24 year old. I hate when i see any doctor or medical show because whatever the patient has, i'm going to start feeling symtoms of the same thing as well. When i get a cold it's pneumonia......when i am thirsty i have a heat stroke,......when i cough i've got throat cancer.....when i wake up feeling groggy i've got some underlying illness.... It's all very exhausting living this way....but i've never lived any other way so i guess i'm used to it.

-- Rhett Johnson (rhettandscottj@aol.com), June 24, 2002.

I don't understand why we have to live like this. I was on anti depressants and xanax for 3 and a half years, my worst fear...disese, death and that some thing was wrong with me. Same thing, headache, instantly think tumor, cramps, i would think cervical cancer.Ive been through tramatic childhood, spinal surgery's and nothing has ever been as bad as this OCD!. I recently smashed my toe, a week later it swelled and when i went to my dr of 16 years he made me feel like a hypercondriac. When i look at my skin sometimes its a yellow tinge and i think i have liver disease. DOES ANYONE out there know of any kind of treatment for this awfull disorder??? Everyone of us who has it lives a lesser life for it , when we should be out having fun, laughing and enjoying our good health and life, we worry about every little sensation which prevents us from LIVING........sadly Sandy

-- Sandy Rundle (cheekymonkey_32@hotmail.com), August 20, 2002.

To all of the people who suffer from worrying about health issues, I can relate. Believe it or not a lot of the symptoms are stress. I had some stressful events happen and I had headaches, back aches, my eyes hurt, I missed work. I thought I had a brain tumor, I kept forgetting things. It is all related to stress. Try to keep the stress level down, do yoga, laugh, go out with friends. Do not continue checking for something to be wrong. It only adds fuel to the fire and makes it worse, you get all stressed out about the tests that will be perfomed and they always come back normal. Stress is a part of all of out lives but take if from somone who has OCD these symtoms demonstrate obsessive compulsive disorder. With the right medications and help from professionals life is great.

-- Jen Carlson (jennyjudy@aol.com), September 29, 2002.

I also do some of this, ive thought ive had lumps on my bollocks for about 5 years now but i check thm everyday i also look at my skin and it looks like a yellow tinge, i get aches in my kidneys that last about 3 seconds and think "oh god whats going too happen" yet with im with my girlfriend and im not thinking about these things 24/7 i feel fine, right now i think my stomach is swollen and im a going too die i convince myself so much, am i alone?or do other people feel the same way as me...or am i insane aswell!!!!!?

someone please respond!

-- Richard Trueman (guitargodrichie@hotmail.com), October 09, 2002.

Well, I can't really say I have any answers but I can definitely relate to the responses I've read. I am the exact same way. My Mother would always call me a hypochondriac whenever I felt ill.I've gone from thinking I had tumors to believing I had OCD. I still believe that I have an obsessive compulsive disorder. But, I know that I couldn't possibly have all of the diseases I thought I had at one time or another.When I catch a cold I think I'm actually going to die. If something good happens to me I automatically think I'm going to die before I can really enjoy it.Crazy hah? I do get depressed alot over almost anything. So, recently I thought I had bi-polar disease. Maybe? I don't know. Doctors always send me home telling me nothing's wrong. All I know is I'm sick of feeling like this and I want real help. So far my Pastor and GOD have been the only thing keeping me sane.

-- Veronica Marie Browning (msveronicabrowning@hotmail.com), November 07, 2002.

i have panic attacts and my life is a mess....i do not know what to do about them......i am sure that i have something bad wrong,,,that i am going to have a stroke are some terrible death any minute,,,what happens if you get so bad that you acan not work? dee

-- delores davis (deedavis@ev1.net), November 10, 2002.

Well I don't exactly have an answer but I have suffered through the same exact problems. I am 28 now and I suffered with this for at least 10 years. Finally, I realized that if I had all the things I thought I had such as cancer or heart problems, I would be dead by now. I also realized that I had wasted several years of my life worrying myself sick over nothing. One day while I was working a lady told me this and it has forever changed my life "Do not worry about things you cannot change only the things that you can!" If you will live by these words you will be so much better off.

-- Mary Spence (Alabamagal26@hotmail.com), December 04, 2002.

IM THE ABSOLUTE WORST HYPO!! Does anyone check their saliva for blood or constantly take their temperature? I have had a low grade fever for a while now and i'm convinced its AIDS or leukemia. I think I have tumors, lung cancer, MS, MD, loss of sight,etc. What the h is going on? How does everyone cope? Does anyone ever get a panic attack from thinking about all these diseases? Sometimes I literally shake and throw up. Can someone respond. Thanks.

-- JJ Benner (ktoomanyshoes@aol.com), December 31, 2002.

to dee, i have suffered from panic attacks for many years. i deal with them without drugs. it is easier. just remember that the attacks cannot harm you in any way and do not be afraid of them. welcome them instead and if u get one just close your eyes and breathe and when its over and you realize that u are stil alive...they wont be so scary anymore and they wont rule your life anymore. it sounds stupid but it is true. i never thought i would get a handle on them ...but i did. i still get them sometimes..but i dont let it get to me. good luck

-- roz nolan (rnolan@rogers.com), January 08, 2003.

I have wrried now for about 5 years about cancer. First I was convinced I had testicular cancer, went and saw the doctoor it was fine. But now I kee getting these shting pains in the right side of my head and the right side of my head also seems to b larger than the left, i know that sounds silly but i reckon it is. I remember one girl calling me stroke boy and not really taking in wat she meant until I loooked at my head closely one day in an angled mirror and it became strikingly obvious. I have grown my hair a bit to try and disguise this but you can still notice. I have been ill in bed for a week now coughing, dry throat, insane headache (totally recurrent) and basically just wrrying myself to death. I'm scared to go to the doctors. I am really quite slim and my weight hasnt changed much in about 4 or 5 years, i'm 19. Somebody please help!!!!!!!

-- John (yesayeyes@hotmail.com), January 08, 2003.

I may be able to help! I produce the national, weekly public radio program The Infinite Mind, and I am currently working on a show about hypochondria and how to treat it. Next week (on 1/15/03), our host, Dr. Fred Goodwin, will be conducting an interview with several experts in the field, and I'd like to line up a few people with questions for these doctors. Based on your posts, I was wondering if any of you might be interested. We would call you so that you could listen in on the interview as it is being taped, and you could then ask the experts a question. Only your first name would be used.

You can learn more about the program at www.theinfinitemind.com. We are currently on in about 200 public radio markets around the country.

If you are interested in being on the program, please email me at marit@LCmedia.com with a number where I can reach you. Thank you!

-- Marit (marit@LCmedia.com), January 09, 2003.

I am like it too i thnk i have testicular cancer because one of my bollocks sometimes goes behind my other one...i think its my underwear, i have lung cancer because i get little pains in my chest sometimes and i have kidney cancer because i have the ocasional ache in my kidneys...ive felt like this for 5 years now and im only 19....by the way in my mind ive also had MS and Meningitis before....im really fucked up its good to know other people are fucked up like me!

sorry about the language

-- Richard Trueman (guitargodrichie@hotmail.com), February 25, 2003.

Well, add me to the list. I'm constantly worried about contracting HIV. I have been diagnosed obsessive compulsive with hypochondriacal tendanices - Wow, what a mouth full. After a number of AIDS tests (I doctor shop) and the birth of a beautiful baby boy in February, my mind still tortures me every day. The TV and internet don't help. Every time I turn one on I hear something about it and that to me is a 'sign'. Whilst I was pregnant, it was so bad that my doctor sent me to a psychiatrist for the 3rd time. She wanted me to go on OCD medication, but I didn't because I wanted to breast feed. Now Samuel is 4 months old and on the bottle, I am considering taking the medication she gave me. I just want to be happy. I feel like I'm wasting my life with this worry. It has really helped knowing there are others out there just like me - my thoughts are with you. Let's beat it together!

Nat

-- Natalie Carrington (ncarrington@ozemail.com.au), June 04, 2003.

They say I'm a hypochondriac. Then, of course, I get mad, because I know that I don't feel well. I've been diagnosed with chronic acid reflux, and even though I've had two endoscopies which came back perfectly fine, I'm convinced that since my last one (3 years ago) my insides have eroded away to the point that I have Barrett's esophagus or stomach or esophageal cancer. The fact that I've been on Prevacid, Protonix, and Prilosec and none have worked doesn't help. I've had lower back pain really bad for about eight years (I am almost 27), but I never really thought it would kill me like the acid reflux. Recently I developed tinnitus, and I just KNOW it's a brain tumor, so I'm nervous worrying about it all the time. Then I was feeling bad a few days for a few weeks, so I scheduled a physical, which I haven't had in forever. Before I went to the GP I typed out a list of every symptom that bothers me on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. It was two pages long, typed, not handwritten. He didn't immediately call me a hypo or anything, but he said that I seem to be depressed. However, because of my symptoms, he said that he looked more closely at my blood test, which showed elevated levels of creatinine (a waste product supposedly filtered by kidneys). Normal? .07 - 1.5. Mine? 1.8. My other blood work was fine; no signs of hypertension or diabetes or anything, but because of the creatinine, my doctor scheduled me for a 24 hour urinalysis, which petrifies me. He said that the cause of the elevated creatinine could be ANYTHING, which worries me, because I just KNOW that I have kidney failure (many of my symptoms are the symptoms of kidney disease!!!!). Sigh. So, no. You aren't alone, wherever or whoever you are. Listen to your body. People might call me a hypochondriac, but if I "hadn't been" I might not have gone to the GP and not gotten screened. I'm afraid that I might have some sort of kidney damage-- terrified, actually--but with most diseases, early detection is the best thing. My "hypochondria" caused me to get that early detection which, if something is REALLY wrong with me the way I THINK it is, might have prolonged my life two or three months.

-- Caxe (xcaxex@aol.com), August 21, 2003.

It's good to know that I'm not the only "nut" out there. I'm 21 and my family and friends have teased me my whole life for constantly worrying about my health. You name it, I've thought I had it. I started having panic attacks years ago, but have learned to control them with out meds. I wish everyone luck.

-- Amy (alabi2081@yahoo.com), September 05, 2003.

I can't believe what I am reading?! I thought that I was the only one out there that lived like this...daily panic attacks, constant worring, possible terminal illnesses! I started worring seriously about my health about 10 years ago...when my Mother-in-law died of Breast Cancer at the age of 46. She said that she had no idea and by the time see was diagnosed it was too late to do anything. After that I just started slowly thinking that the same thing was going to happen to me. It certainly doesn't help that I am an R.N. because not only do I have all the scary text books, but it is my JOB to recognize the signs and symptoms of diseases. I hear my patients stories and watch them die, and then I am supposed to just go home and forget it? I have been going to doctors with vague health issues since I was a teenager and I was diagnosed with depression and possible Chronic Fatigue, but now that I am an adult, and having alot more symptoms, the doctors have decided that I more than likely have Fibromyalgia ( my mom has it and it took 15 years to diagnose her). I should have felt better with some sort of diagnosis, but instead, I just seem to worry more....and and every month it is something new. It used to be M.S., Brain cancer, and lately I am totally OBSESSED with breast cancer ( I guess cause it is Awarness Month and so it is constantly in the news etc.) I can sympathize with those who say they are constantly checking for lumps and bumps, and now whenever I find anything different, I go into full blown panic attack. I am driving my family crazy...they try to be patient and sympathetic with me...but it helps to know that there are others out there who feel like me...and I would love to talk to anyone who feels like I do.....

-- Nickie Villeneuve (nickievilleneuve@hotmail.com), October 24, 2003.

There are websites out there where you can research all kinds of medications and find out whether or not you are actually being misdiagnosed, or "misprescribed". My neice was being treated with a medication, and the side effects almost killed her. The doctors just kept giving her more medications to stop the side effects.

Try doing research at medicationtalk.com

-- susan johnson (johnson@yahoo.com), October 28, 2003.

I actually feel better after reading the entries on this site. I am a hypochondriac too. I am 25 years old now and feel like I'm 45 after all of the worrying I've put myself through needlessly. It started when I was 15. I told my mom that I thought I had a brain tumor, so being the diligent mother that she is, took my into my pediatrician and told him my concerns. He made me walk in a straight line and asked me questions about my vision, my gait, etc. and told me I was fine. I went through my teenage years never too concerned with my health. Being a hypochondriac actually helped me because when certain friends experimented with drugs, I never did because I truly believed that I would die on the first attempt. Well, by the age of 25, I have been to the gynocologist for a "lump" in my armpit....he actually laughed at me saying that is was normal tissue, I OBSESSIVELY read WebMd (stay away from this website fellow hypo's), and whenever I hear that someone has cancer, I start to think I do to. I have been to the EMERGENCY ROOM for a headache that turned out to be sinusitus...after a CAT scan and checkup. I felt like an ass really, but even so, in the back of my mind I wasn't convinced that the CAT scan would catch my brain tumor. When John Ritter passed away so quickly from a heart defect, I was convinced that my heart would do the same, or I would have a stroke. A coworker's 11-year old daughter was just diagnosed with pontine glioma (a rare brain stem cancer) and now I can't get away from any website that describes what it is and it's success rates. I found a devastating site in which family members and children with cancer post messages...I sat and read and cryed thinking the whole time that that could be me at any second. I guess what scares me is the fact that these diseases can pop up at a moment's notice, and I have learned to control my thoughts on this matter. My husband is getting sick of me talking about death and dying. I have been to a therapist, and she says I have an anxiety disorder. I will not take meds for this, because I am determined to get better on my own. I used to have severe panic attacks and I haven't had one in months, so that's an improvement. I really am not such a nut that I can't go about my daily life normally. I hold the same job for over 2 years, I am happily married and pregnant with my first child, and am working on a Master's degree. It's just that when it comes to my health, I never think positively. When I got an abnormal pap back, I thought, "Well, this is it...I KNEW something bad was going to happen to me!" and the next pap came back just fine and normal. I hope I get better and become less of a hypochondriac...or at least not be such a big one with regard to my new baby. Good luck to all out there!

-- Andrea (lattefun@aol.com), November 07, 2003.

Haha, I agree with a lot of what you guys are saying. I wouldn't call myself a hypercondriac, but I am excessively aware of diseases and their potential to strike me. I find them intriguing and petrifying...not a good combo. I feel driven to look up more information on every little thing...from mad cow disease to HIV..even though I am not sexually active, never received a blood transfusion, and have no reason to consider it as even a remote possibility. It doesn't come close to controlling my life, but at a time it did. When I was about 11 I convinced myself I had cancer. It is so scary, just the potential that you are dying and don't know it. My attitude now is "whatever..nothing I can do about it...whats 50 less years when I am going to die anyway"...this may seem like the statement of a depressed person, but I am not. I am just acutely aware that I can't control anything and worrying about every little thing only damages the life I am supposedly so concerned about.

-- BDL (bdl1411@aol.com), December 04, 2003.

All this time I time I thought I was alone. Earlier this year I had a heart attack, I am 24 yrs old and in great shape, I don't care what the doctor said about it being an anxiety attack, I know what it was. I have had a headache for the past week, it's just a matter of time before this tumor brings on siezures to occur. As a child I would stay out of the sun so as not to get skin cancer. Somebody help me.

-- Michael Araiza (chmp4lyf@aol.com), December 22, 2003.

How can one be a hypocondriac when one is aware of it? It's good to have faith and trust in yourself. It's difficult when others are apathetic. Like Doctors. It's mean when drug companies, push medicine that gives you side effects that are worse than the symptoms that you have. I worry a lot. I had a conization of cervical dysplasia. The only way I could face my battle, was information overload. I kept researching until I felt in control. Now, I tend to look up all my symptoms. I could be doing other things with my time. What will be will be.. I know that I have to be in tune with me, because the doctors don't have time. I don't feel bad about it, because Albert Einstein didn't. Who cares if he couldn't tie his shoes. He was obessive. People are compulsive in general. It's either work, health, sex or sickness. Fact is we don't have a lot to talk about.

Happy New Year, and thanks for listening.

-- Annette (annettemarie5@hotmail.com), January 03, 2004.

Well I am absolutley stunned that there are other people out there like me.I now know that I am not alone in this world with my constant feelings of distress and dispair.As I sit here and write this I have tears in my eyes because finally I know I am not alone. I have been suffering severe panic attacks and having hypochondriac tendencys for three years now and somedays I feel like I cant go on living my life like this anymore. I to think, Oh my god, I have a head ache, it must be a tumor. Or I constantly have chest pains and think holy shit, Im having a heart attack. Everything there is to have I thought I have had it once or twice and I dont know how to stop being like this? Right now I am convinced I either have stomach cancer or something with my liver is wrong. My stomach by no means looks like a washboard but it is bigger on one side and I am FREAKING out thinking there is something wrong. My family laughs and teases me about this and it bothers me because they think I am crazy and they make a Big Joke out of it. I am currently attending college with a 16 credit load and I wonder if I am gonna make it through it? How do you stop being like this? Where is the help? I am missing out so much in life because I cant control my obbsessive thoughts.If anyone has any advice please email me. Sometimes just talking to others that can relate because they have been in this situation would help.Thanks

-- Melissa Johnson (lissaz4@jamadots.com), January 16, 2004.

I to suffer from the same thing, as i sit here typing i just KNOW i have a brain tumor, ive been to the ER numerous times thinking iwas having a heart attack, i DO get chest pains, back pains, neck , arm, knees ect...my EKGs came back normal, I am 23, and the doctor said the EKG and the Xrays are just fine, and he doesnt believe its my heart at all. I just dont believe him at all. i had some blood work done and it too came back alright, i dont believe they are testing me for the right things. I constantly check my pulse. I feel like i cant breathe at times, i get dizzy. I am always searching the web for different diseases, i feel like i have them ALL. my family thinks i need to just get over it, i am trying..i always tell them they will see once im dead that i wasnt overreacting. When i go outside in the cold or cold water hits once side of my head it HURTS, i am conviced i have a brain tumor. but no one believes me! They all tell me that if it was my heart or my brain i would probably be dead by now or seriously sick. Im tired of living like this, i cant honeslty say i remember when i could just go out and have a good time without worrying. well good luck to all of you

Ladybandit08@yahoo.com

-- Melissa V (ladybandit08@yahoo.com), January 16, 2004.

Hello. Wow, i cant beleive all the people who suffer from this. I'm still not convinced that all that is wrong with me is hypochondria, but who knows? My main concern right now is that i have bone cancer. And i keep getting signs. ie: turn on tv and its a commercial on how to cope with chemo treatments. its just never ending!!! anyways, glad im not alone!

-- mindy g (mjgarn@yahoo.com), January 19, 2004.

I feel for everyone in this forum! I too have obsessive compulsive disorder and am a complete hypochondriac. Altho I was chronically ill for 3 years with EXTREME constipation and autointoxication(my body reabsorbed the poop), I am no longer so. I've been to 15 different doctors who all say I'm perfectly healthy. I had 3 different doctors run thyroid tests on me because I thought I had chronic fatigue. I still beleive my thyroid levels are low. I've had cat scans for tumors, adrenal tests, and once stayed a week in a hospital with a team of 7 endocrinologists!! I feel my abdomen for blockage in my intestines every night. I obsess over food and the mineral content. My hypochondrism is magnified because I'm in college studying nutrition. I shy from exercise because I think it gives me low blood sugar and chronic fatigue. Then I obsess about being overweight. I'm going to see a psychologist soon, because I need to get this stuff straightened out. It's ruining my life! Everyone else should do the same!

Val

-- Valerie Trate (vttrate@yahoo.com), January 21, 2004.

im afraid i might have a brain tumor too....im 18 years old.........i have a history of anxiety and panic attacks....i always worry that i have a brain tumor......last month i started feelin weak and tired and dizzy and i head tension on the right side of my head...and my appetite started to change..i had bloodwork done and everything came back fine and i was told that it was most likely an anxiety disorder..i went to see a psychiatrist and he ruled that it was a panic disorder and put me on the medication zoloft...since then things have gotten worse..i still have chronic tension on the right side of my head and it affects the way i eat...i have to chew my food slower...and ive gotten even more tired and weak...i constantly think that im dying....when i was a kid i was diagnosed with having low muscle tone and my hands shake due to it...but it appears it has gotten worse since all these other symptoms appeared....now im going to see a neurologist but my doctor still thinks its anxiety..what should i do?.....should i still worry about a brain tumor?

-- James Bogil (phatrappr5@aol.com), January 27, 2004.

I do not know I just can never breath well and never can stop being thirsty,even when I am drinking I am still thirsty.There is something wrong with me.magurly!

-- Stephanie Owens (hattiebabe2003@hotmail.com), March 22, 2004.

Well hello all, I am a 23 year old female with what looks like agreat life, i have an amazing fiancee, great parents a nice home and i am from what people tell me an attractive girl. For the past year i have been severly concerned with my health. Like everyone else on here every little symptom means impending dooom. I am very afraid of lung cancer and aids tumors and anurysms. I have no idea why ia m sooo afraid of dying. My family and friends all think ia m crazy, i have had blood tests, urine tests, ultrasounds, eeg, i have been to a gynocologist, rheaumatologist dermatologist (my constent worry has causes me to develop something called neurodermatitis) i've been to my doctor a least once or twice a month i have gone to the clinic for second opinions and to the hospital. i have also been to therapists and psychiatrist, so far nothing i am currently looking into another therapist and starting yoga. I guess basically i have no answers to why any of you are going through this as well as myself whati do know is that it probably is worse than actually having one of terminal diseases because there really is no answer and isn't that what we all want. We dont' necessarily want the impending disease obviously and we are not looking for something to actually be wrong withus we are just simply looking for an answer. I feel somewhat lost, i am currently an A student in college studying dental hygiene and sometimes i dont think i am even going to be able to hold down a job with this chronic fear of disease and dying. If anyone has any answers for me or can even relate who would liketo share experiences and try to help eachother beat this please email me. Mandica

-- mandica (harley5403@aol.com), March 26, 2004.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! since winter been experiencing viscious panic attacks. the tinyest thing sets me off-- lightheaded, brain tumor -- etc. most of my problems focus around my heart/blood pressure. Today I THOUGHT my leg MIGHT be becoming numb and i became convinved i was having a stroke. this slow disconnected feeling began to arrise in my mind and i became more and more sucked into the retarded backwards logic of hypocondria. began furiously searching the web for info on strokes. naturally the one or two bizzare online cases of 20 year olds having strokes were the ones most resembling my situation. became locked in a furious internal debate as to whether or not my arm was or wasnt slightly numb and my left side felt different from the right. than began to obssess over wether or not my vision was fucked up.... etc etc etc etc. for the record, blood pressure is a great one to worry about, because worrying about it causes it to go up. Thus you become locked in this bizzare feed back loop from which there is no escape. aw fuck it

-- andrew lfree (izzbozzed@msn.com), April 14, 2004.

Hahahahha, this forum is funny as hell. i am 22. All these symptoms sound very familiar to me. I've thought i had testicular cancer, heart atacks, parkinsons, alzheimers, flesh eating virus, mononucloesis, TB, macular eye degeneration, mad cow disease, neuropathy, nerve degeneration, and HIV. I'm a premed student and its even worse when u know all teh symptoms of all diseases. The worst thing is that i went and took a TB test last week and it turned out positive for the inactive TB which is making everything even worst cause i was right! HIV is still lingering in the back of my mind even though my most sexual contact was getting ORAL sex from somone i've known for a while now. whats even funnnier is that when i read about symptoms of somehting, they always seem to happen in a couple hours after reading. I think to myself, hmmm, it couldnt have been my mind cause i totally was not even thinking of it when the symptom happened. i've noticed that it alwasy happens when i dont think about it which tells me that my brain is constantly thinking about it all even though i dont notice it. just after reading some responses, my back is itching and its prolly herpes shingles! anyways, gonna go to sleep b4 i freak out, late : )

-- mac ulardegen (pagen22@aol.com), May 07, 2004.

I feel much better knowing I am not the only one out there with these scarey feelings. I don't know who to turn to. My doctor listens and will schedule tests for me but I am so sick of putting myself through things that I really probably don't even need to have done. I just don;t know how you are supposed to tell if your symptoms are really something serious or not. Does anyone know if there is a certain anxiety medicine that really helps this disease? I have been on Zoloft, Paxil, Effexor and I also take adivan for the nervousness. I am to the point where I feel like I want to check myself into the psychiatric dept. at the local hospital but I don't even think they can help me. I am having trouble going to my job and being around people...I am just so scared of death and dying. If anyone has any advice or just wants to talk, please e-mail me. Thanks.

-- A Winn (angiew@uplink.net), May 09, 2004.

I don't know if anyone has considered this, but For the past 16 years I had experienced severe headaches and upper respiratory allergies that my doctor said "did not" exist.I discovered by the process of elimination over a period of about six months that the products I was using to clean with were the "entire" source of my so called non existant health concerns.I did some research and came across a line of products that so impressed me that I now market them full time.For more info on these life altering cleaners check out http://www.quickinfo247.com/8521795/vcl Good Luck and Good Health to all.

-- Regina Edwards (giftgirl992003@yahoo.com), May 17, 2004.

Oh my god, i have just got back from the doctors, and reading everyone elses posts, he has told me im hypocondriactic and that my anxiety thinking i have a terrible disease is concerning him. im at university having hte best days of my lives but it is been constantly ruined by the thought i have throat cancer, and i feel my body looking for more signs of this. im 20 now but thoughts have crept into my head for at least 5 years. its time to move on with this. im as fit as a fiddle yet i keep knocking myself down with these stupid thoughts. i will live by the statement now "Do not worry about things you cannot change only the things that you can!" in which one person said above. Reading everyone elses stories, i can see im not the only one like this, and its helped me to realise that im concerned about nothing. i feel immensely :)with my life and now i can get on with my life and forget about all these stupid thoughts.

-- n farrar (storkio_cuomo@hotmail.com), May 18, 2004.

I have suffered from anxiety ever since I was a child. I am 21 now and am still suffering from this mental disorder. As a child I had no idea what was going on with me and this is where my hypocondria started. At the time it was not severe, but became a dominating factor in my life about six years ago, I was fifteen and at the height of my angsty teen years. Ever since, I have been battling the notion of my own mortality. It is good to see that there are other people like me out there. That being said, I can offer some help to those who feel the same way. To treat my anxiety which causes my hypocondria, I drink ginger root tea, or valerian root tea. I also tell myself that it is just my mind reacting to outside factors such as as stress. Once you begin to realize that you are not crazy, you can deal with day to day life a lot easier. I will often times meditate, reflect on my day and this helps to put things in perspective. Without perspective, I find I am completely lost. And last, speak to your close friends, relatives, or anyone you feel you can confide in. You can bounce ideas off of them and find that this is a relatively common affliction. After that you can deal with your problems with gusto and take control of them, as opposed to your problems taking control of you.

-- Paul (spaceface_983@hotmail.com), May 28, 2004.

I can relate to exactly what people are saying on here. I am 31 years old and until 30, I never popped a headache pill or anything. Then, October last year, started as Brain Fog, Tinnitus, Dizziness, Eye pressure, headaches, neck pain, neck crepitus (grating sound when turning head), anxiety, depression, IBS, numb hands and fingers for last 3 months... I know it wasn't/isnt in my head, these Symptoms were REAL!. After a visit to 23 doctors, private doctors, 2 ENT's, 1 Maxilofacial Surgeon, 1 Neuroligist, various A&E admissions, a phsycologist, and approx 2 carrier bags full of medication!, guess what.... The only diagnosis I've had is TMJ and Mild Carpal Tunnel (mild compression of the median nerve (probably due to poor posture - probably too many late nights stooped over a PC trying to match symptoms to diagnosis). I guess the original diagnosis of Viral Labyrinthitis was probably correct... After 3 months of constant suffering, most of my symptoms dissapeared, but guess what.... Not the Anxiety & depression. I am still convinced to this day that there is an underlying cause for all of this but I've been re-assured by many doctors there is nothing Pathalogically or Neurologically wrong with me!. I am taking 100mg of Dothiepin (Prothyadin hydrachloride) for depression/anxiety as I had an adverse reaction to the Fluoxetine (Prozac) last Christmas. I like everybody else on here constantly panic when I feel a lump or bump and convince myself that I've got Aids, Parkinsons, MS, ME (CFS), some un-diganosed illness? From now on I'm just going to get on with life and try to live each day saying 'What the hell!'. Everyone dies at some point! Enjoy life to the full the time you've got!. Good luck everyone and be assured that you're not alone in this. Take Care.

-- Mike (UK) (michael@mletters.freeserve.co.uk), June 08, 2004.

all i have to say is stay the F*ck off of medication. that is not the answer. being a hypochondriac or suffering from panis attack/anxiety disorder is completely curable. medication only masks the problem and MD's have no idea of how to treat this. psychiatrists arent much differnet. email me if you want to talk. trust me, i suffered for 20 years and i am now 99% fine. life is good again. and it can be for you! im not selling anything so dont worry. i found the answer in the stupidest of places and ive been fine since. hope to hear from you.

cody

-- cody (eddievrulz@hotmail.com), June 11, 2004.

OK. I have figured out that I am an OCD about being diseased. I am 23 years old and have just figured out that I am seriously in need of help. I make myself sick worrying about getting sick. This sounds so funny to everyone that hasn't gone through this. I use to never be sick until about 5 years ago. I gradually got worse as time went on. I've had every heart test run. I have had my gallbladder removed, many ultrasounds and several visits to doctors that say I am going to live. I am miserable. I can't go about normal activities because I'm worrying about getting sick and not being able to do those activities. I seriously think that I am going to go to the doctor this week and say "I need help. I'm a hypo and i'm making myself sick because i obsess about getting sick". If anyone else needs to vent about being and OCD hypo then email me.

-- Bridget C. (bridget1cox@hotmail.com), February 02, 2005.

I'm the same way, like right now i think i have a brain tumor for the 2nd time. i don't know what's wrong with i just hope it's nothing serious. everytime i read something about a health issue, i get the symptoms the next day.

-- Ivy Holston (mariozgurl3@yahoo.com), February 13, 2005.